Xbox One to Lose Some Functionality, Day One Patches Required As Result of New DRM Changes

Kevin Chieng
June 19, 2013 at 5:49PM

Microsoft confirmed earlier that Xbox One will function like an Xbox 360 in terms of playing games without an internet connection and its game trading and lending. However, some functionality will go away because of this change.

Marc Whitten, V.P. of Xbox Live, told Kotaku that some features will have to be dropped now with Xbox One's online DRM out the window.

"There’s a few things we won’t be able to deliver as a result of this change," said Marc Whitten. "One of the things we were very excited about was 'wherever we go my games are always with me.' Now, of course your physical games won’t show up that way. The games you bought digitally will. You’ll have to bring your discs with you to have your games with you. Similarly, the sharing library [is something] we won’t be able to deliver at launch."

The family sharing feature that Microsoft revealed a couple weeks ago will be going away. This is because the new DRM policy won’t require users to register their game online or perform 24 hour online check ins, now that games will be handled just like it does currently on Xbox 360.

What’s interesting though is that Xbox One launch games will require a day one patch in order for them to be played offline. This shows that Microsoft did not plan to change its DRM policy as they announced today. Although the Xbox One is set to release this November, it sounds like they changed their stance too late and as a result, games will require a patch to enable offline gameplay.

"We believe a lot in this digital future," Whitten said. "We believe it builds an amazing experience—the ability to have a broader sharing platform and my content coming with me, [but] what we heard is people still wanted more choice… they wanted the familiarity of the physical disc."

Publishers/DevelopersIf you have questions about the site or a piece of media that you would like included on gametrailers.com, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email at: trailers@gametrailers.com

GamersAny issues with the site? Are there broken links? Is there a trailer you are looking for that you can't find? Do you want to heap praise upon us? Send us an email at: webmaster@gametrailers.com